A Dewick's Plusia moth within a quiet Moth Box & a walk around the Cemy.

Sunday 12th July 2026

My first Dewick's Plusia moth for a several years.

I’m afraid I was up so early this morning I wondered if I got any sleep at all! It was still dark when I made myself a cup of coffee and so jumped onto my new Laptop to update some of the Moths I had seen recently in one of the folders. When it was light enough to go outside, I then got cracking in checking what the Moth Box attracted overnight.

There was a blustery north-westerly blowing over Southsea and due to a clear cloudless night, it certainly reduced the Moth total compared to yesterday. It was thankfully quite cool too this morning, though it is sure to heat up as the day goes on. An early morning update on the ‘Lazee Birders’ Whatsapp revealed that the Night Heron was still present on Miller’s Pond in Southampton.

 

My Moth Box:

My third Thorn species in two days, the September Thorn.

There were much fewer Moths than yesterday with just 59 moths recorded of 28 species in total. On a plus side, my first Dewick’s Plusea of the year was within the Moth Box and the August Thorn from yesterday was replaced by a September Thorn! Just one Canary-shouldered Thorn was present still (although the other could be hiding in the plants somewhere in the garden!).

Above, a Clancy's Rustic and below, one of three Silver Y moths.

Two Grey / Dark Daggers were present (I did see one yesterday evening of which I must have flushed after watering the garden) this morning. This species must be dissecting to get a true ID. The aberrant Black Arches was still present for its third day, and a few  Mint Moths were the pick of the micro moths this morning. The following Moths were recorded this morning:

 

MACRO MOTHS	MICRO MOTHS
Black Arches x1	Common Plume x4
Grey / Dark Dagger x2	Bud Moth x1
Large Yellow Underwing x2	Golden-brown Tubic x3
Dewick’s Plusea * x1	Hampshire Dowd x1
Silver Y x3	Rosy Tabby x3
Clancy’s Rustic x1	Gold Triangle x1
September Thorn x1	Mint Moth x2
Canary-shouldered Thorn x1	Barred Marble x1
Riband Wave x3	Light Brown Apple Moth x4
Pale Mottled Willow x1	Rusty-dot Pearl x1
Bright-line Brown-eye x1	Bird-cherry Ermine x4
Shuttle-shaped Dart x1	Willow Ermine x6
Cloaked Minor x1	Garden Grass-veneer x6
Marbled Beauty x1	Large Pale Masoner x2

 

Above, a Common Stiletto Fly and below, the Pied Hoverfly in my Moth Box this morning.

The Moth Box attracted an array of insects this morning and some interesting species were present. This included the usual Lacewing, a few Harlequin Ladybirds and a Buff-tailed Bumblebee. Among the more unusual insects present was a Common Stiletto (Thereva nobilitata), from the family of insects Asiloidea or commonly known as Stiletto Flies. Also, a Spectacled Berry Fly (Anomoia purmunda) was present, which is a species of Fruit Fly of the family Tephritidae. Finally, a female Pied Hoverfly (Scaeva pyrastri) was sitting comfortably in one of the egg trays.

Highland Road Cemetery, Southsea:

 

One of the many Buddleia Bushes growing at the site and always a good chance of something interesting on them.

The breezy north-westerly wind kept the temperatures down early this morning as I took my dogs for their early morning walk. It has been a while since I have been over my local patch of Highland Road Cemetery and though I wasn’t expecting many bird species on show due to the hot weather of late, there were a few notable sightings during the 45 minutes I was there.

Above, over on the west side of the Cemy, the grass was cut so short, that it is now turning yellow due to the lack of rain and below, in the middle of the Cemy, the uncut grass is still green.

There is always something interesting to see in the Cemetery, whether it’s the bird life or insects or even the plants growing around the graves and what with the hot weather of late, it didn’t take too long to see how the recently cut grass was turning yellow. However, some areas of the site, especially over on the south and east side of the Cemy, had been left alone and the grass and flowering plants were left to grow.

Above, there were hardly any birds on show to take some photos, but a few showy Wood Pigeons never disappoint. Below, a Yellow-legged Mining bee was enjoying this Cat's Ear flower.

As I started my walk around the Cemy, a couple of ladies stopped me for a chat and one of them told me she thoroughly enjoyed by Blog! Apparently, I bumped into her earlier this year and discussed the Woodpeckers here. The other lady said that she saw two Green Woodpeckers in the south-west corner of the Cemetery last week, though I have not seen them at all here this year.

Above, I found a few flowering Willowherb plants and below, this Jersey Tiger Moth was a good find on the Buddleia.

Kicking off with the birds, it was hard work to find any passerines within the Cemy, though I did hear a Blue Tit, Wren, House Sparrow and a ‘ticking’ Robin, it was the Swifts overhead that were showing well. At least a dozen or so were flying low over the rooftops over on the east side and were frequently heard calling overhead throughout my walk this morning.

A few Butterflies were on the wing including (above) a Gatekeeper and below, a Meadow Brown.

A few Butterflies were seen that included a Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper and a Red Admiral. I checked most of the flowering Buddleia Bushes growing in the Cemy for Butterflies, but all I could find were Buff-tailed Bumblebee’s on the plants. However, when walking along my usual footpath in the centre of the Cemy, I found a superb Jersey Tiger Moth on one of the flowering plants. On one of the Cat’s Ear flowers, I took a few photos using my Mobile Phone Camera of a Yellow-legged Mining Bee nectaring on the plant.

Only a few bird species were seen today from the Cemy including the Swifts (above) and a scruffy looking Magpie.

As expected, there was a variety of flowering plants on show and standing out like a sore thumb were tall spikes of Common Ragwort. I also found a large clump of Centaury growing between some graves by the Mausoleum. A few spikes of Willowherb were also in bloom in various places and the likes of Yarrow, Scarlet Pimpernel and Vipers Bugloss were all found on my walk. 

Above, there was a large clump of Centaury growing near the Mausoleum. Below, Buddy and Ted enjoying a bit of a run around at the back of the Cemetery.

This afternoon, already the temperature is climbing up to the 30's and while reflecting on my walk with the dogs, I am glad I am indoors this afternoon and simply chilling out on this lovely Sunday afternoon.